Implement for washing out internal bruises in hams.



No. 673,268. Patented Apr. 30, I901. W. H. HUNTINGTON.

IMPLEMENT FOR WASHING OUT INTERNAL BRUISES IN HAMS.

(Application filed Feb. 20, 1901.)

(No Model.)

its...

' JWQL UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. HUNTINGTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPLEMENT FOR WASHING OUT INTERNAL BRUISES IN HAMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,268, dated April 30, 1901.

Apnlication filed February 20, 1901. Serial No. 48,175. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HUNTING- TON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Implement for Washing Out Internal Bruises in Hams, of which the following is aspecification.

Internal bruises or collections of blood are frequently found in hams, which although producing no injury to the meat yet present an unsightly appearance when the hams are cut open, which it is very desirable to avoid. To provide an implement by means of which the clotted blood and impurities contained in these bruises can be successfully removed is the object of my invention, which consists in a hollow spindle adapted to be connected wit-h a force-pump or other means whereby it may be supplied with liquid under pressure, said spindle having external longitudinal grooves or channels, each provided at its bottom with a series of apertures through which the liquid is forced directly into the bruise to wash out the same, the longitudinal channels of the spindle affording direct passageways for the free escape or'exit from the ham of the liquid after having thoroughly cleansed all portions of the bruise and removed the clotted blood from the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my implement. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

In the said drawings, A representsa tubular spindle provided at one end with an iniernally-threaded enlargement b to enable it to be coupled by means of a hose to a forcepump or other source by which it may be supplied with liquid (preferably sweet brine) under pressure. The opposite end of the spindle A is preferably provided with a point 0 to facilitate its introduction into a previously-made aperture or passage in a ham leading to a bruise or collection of clotted blood which it is desired to wash out. These bruises can be located by means of an implement designed for the purpose, for which Letters Patent No. 644,248 were granted to me February 27, 1900.

The spindle A is provided on the outside with a series of deep longitudinal grooves (1,

extending from the base of the point 0 to the enlargement b and separated from each other by longitudinal ribs 6, each groove having at its bottom a row or series of apertures f, through which the liquid under pressure within thehollow spindle may be discharged into a bruise within the ham. These rows of holes fextend from the base of the point e backward nearly to the center of the length of the spindle, thereby enabling them to cover long bruises, should such be encountered, and the holes of each groove preferably alternate with those of the grooves on opposite sides of the same, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The operation of my implement is as follows: After the withdrawal of the implement by means of which the bruise in the ham has been located the spindle A, connected with the supply of liquid under pressure, is introduced into the passage or opening thus made until the perforated portion of the spindle has passed into or through the bruise in the ham, when the liquid discharged under pressure from theholes fwill reach every portion of the bruise, thus thoroughly washing out and cleansing the same of the clotted blood or other impurities,which, together with the liquid injected, escape into the grooves or channels d and thence pass freely backward, being discharged from such channels at the point where the implement enters the ham.

The longitudinal grooves, with the discharge orifices at the bottoms thereof, form the essential feature of my invention, as the said grooves form open passage-ways for the free escape or exit from the ham of the cleansing liquid after having washed out the bruise, which could not be the case with a grooveless perforated tube, as demonstrated by ac tual experiment, for the reason that the meat would hug or cling closely to the sides of the tube and interfere with or prevent the escape of the liquid thickened with the clotted blood or impurities, thus rendering it impossible to accomplish the desired result.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

An implement for washing out internal bruises or clots of blood in hams, comprising a tubular pointed spindle provided at its base with means for coupling the same to a hose or force-pump, said spindle being provided with a series of external longitudinal grooves separated from each other by longitudinal ribs, and each groove having at its bottom a row or series of apertures through which the cleansing liquid may he introduced directly into the bruise, said grooves forming outletpassages for the free escape or exit from the ham of the cleansing liquid together with the 

